242. The psychology of maladaptive daydreaming

Daydreaming can be a perfectly normal part of life - zoning out in the shower, before we fall asleep, on the train to work. But some of us cross over into dangerous territory or what we call maladaptive daydreaming where we can't pull ourselves away from the fantasy. We feel disconnected and it makes our real life feel so much less bright and enjoyable. It can cause us a lot of distress and distraction. Why is that? And why can't we stop ourselves? In today's episode, we break down: 

• What makes daydreaming 'maladaptive' or 'excessive' 
• What are the signs + the 16 item scale for maladaptive daydreaming
• The impact on our emotional health 
• Maladaptive daydreaming and creativity 
• Maladaptive daydreaming, trauma, anxiety and OCD 
• Is daydreaming a form of escapism?
• How to turn daydreaming into intentional visualisation 

Thank you to our listeners who contributed their perspective. Happy listening! 

The 16 item scale here: https://traumadissociation.com/mds 

The Reddit help group: https://www.reddit.com/r/MaladaptiveDreaming/ 

Follow Jemma on Instagram: @jemmasbeg

Follow the podcast on Instagram: @thatpsychologypodcast

For business: [email protected] 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.